Four percent of Gaza children overweight as UNICEF finds acute malnutrition ‘low’

Four percent of young children in Gaza are overweight while levels of acute malnutrition are now “low”, according to a major new UNICEF-led survey published less than a year after famine was declared in part of the territory.

The study of children under five found 12.2 percent were affected by stunting, a sign of impaired growth associated with longer-term nutritional and health problems.

UNICEF said the findings showed a “complex nutritional picture”, with low acute malnutrition existing alongside chronic malnutrition, overweight children, poor diets and widespread illness.

The figures mark a significant change from last August, when the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed famine in Gaza.

According to The Free Press, the underlying survey results recorded wasting – extreme thinness and a measure of acute malnutrition – in 0.5 percent of children when their weight was compared with their height.

The US publication reported that the findings have prompted fresh debate over last year’s famine assessment and the methodology used to reach it.

US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told The Free Press that the latest data represented a “revelation” and “presents a different story than what had been told outrageously – for the past almost three years.”

“It just shows what Israel has to confront every single day, which is utterly fake news that they are committing a genocide and trying to starve people,” he added.

UNICEF, however, says the new figures do not contradict the earlier famine finding and stresses that acute malnutrition can change rapidly when access to food improves.

Its survey was conducted between 31 May and 15 June, following what the agency described as a “substantial expansion” of humanitarian assistance after the October 2025 ceasefire and the resumption of commercial traffic.

Nearly 17,000 children were admitted for acute malnutrition treatment at the peak in August 2025, according to UNICEF. By March this year, that had fallen to fewer than 3,000.

“Children’s nutrition improves when aid and commercial supplies reach them – and deteriorates just as quickly when it does not,” said UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder.

“The improvement we are seeing are fragile and depend on sustained humanitarian access, adequate funding and functioning commercial markets. Without them, progress could be reversed within months, and children will again pay the highest price.”

The survey also found significant continuing problems.

Almost three-quarters of children aged between six and 23 months had eaten unhealthy food during the previous day, while just 22.4 percent received what UNICEF considers a minimum acceptable diet.

More than a third – 37.1 percent – of under-fives had suffered diarrhoea during the previous two weeks. Malnutrition was also recorded among girls and women aged 15 to 49.

UNICEF said the combination of stunting, wasting and overweight pointed towards problems with the quality of children’s diets rather than simply the amount of food available.

“Acute malnutrition can improve within weeks. The wider damage does not,” Beigbeder said. “Children need safe water, health care and diverse and nutritious food, not only enough calories to survive.”

The survey measured 1,335 children across 147 locations and UNICEF cautioned that it represents only areas researchers could access.

Around 358,000 people, equivalent to 17 percent of Gaza’s population, were excluded because of security and access restrictions.

The agency also stressed that the study provides a snapshot of conditions during a short period this summer and cannot be used to establish what conditions were like when famine was declared last year.